


In the blink of an eye

by natspeanut



Category: Not Going Out (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hospitalization, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29077089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natspeanut/pseuds/natspeanut
Summary: Their world changes in a split second, as a car crash affects everyone's lives in different ways.Set a few months after the episode Christmas Shopping.
Relationships: Lucy Adams/Lee (Not Going Out), Tim Adams/Daisy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Tim ran into the apartment, not bothering to knock first to which Lee pulled a face.

"Have you not heard of knocking?" Lee questioned the other man "you could've caught me in an indecent position"

"Wouldn't be the first time" Tim rolled his eyes, but looked overly stressed. He was pulling at his shirt collar and had clearly rushed there straight from his place with barely any thought taken to how he looked

"What's happened? Another scuffle at the newsagents?" Lee asked him sarcastically but in the back of his mind he was starting to feel a little worried. He had never seem Tim look so panicked, not even when they had been stuck in that department store trying to escape a psychotic Santa Claus. It was certainly going to be an interesting story to tell Charlie once he was older.

"I got some rather bad news just now, a phone call" Tim said, pacing around the apartment nervously. 

"Was it a carpet salesman? Cos I might need one of those the way you're going" Lee said sarcastically, rolling his eyes 

"No! I mean actual bad news not just a little wear on your carpets" Tim sighed; then finally admitted "The call was from the hospital. Daisy was in a car crash"

All of the anxiety and ruffled appearance had suddenly made sense to Lee. For all the times that Tim would admonish and even seem slightly embarrassed by his girlfriend, he genuinely cared for her and of course this would have him on edge.

"Is she okay?" Lee asked, an element of genuine sympathy and shock in his voice. Though he too had plenty of times made fun of the girl, he would have to admit there was a fondness for her, almost like a surrogate little sister. 

"I'm not sure. They didn't share much over the phone but if it was too serious they would've phoned sooner, right?" Tim questioned warily, feeling his anxiety rise

"Do you need a lift?" Lee asked as he went for his coat, pulling it on swiftly as Tim nodded in agreement.

"I felt too shaky to drive, I tried a little but I had to pull over. My mind was racing" he sighed 

"Who did it think you were? Sterling Moss?" Lee questioned with a laugh, apologising when he realised that Tim wasn't in the mood for his jokes right now. 

"I'll just have to drop off Charlie with a neighbour, the girl on the ground floor is a trainee nursery nurse. Luckily she's not in class right now" Lee said as they exited the apartment with the baby in tow, tucked up warm in his little travel cot.

"Wait, where's Lucy? She should be back from work by now surely?" Tim questioned as they got into the lift. Lee then realised it was later on in the day than he thought, and felt a small wave of panic settling in

"I'm sure she just got held up in traffic or with a business meeting, she's still playing catch up from her maternity leave" Lee told him as they reached the ground floor and headed over to the babysitters flat "But we haven't got time to wait for her anyway, we need to get you to the hospital before Daisy looses what little brain cells she has left"

Tim opened his mouth to argue about Lee making jokes at his girlfriends expense, especially when she was currently injured but was cut off by the door opening and a petite brunette in her early twenties stood there with a pleasant smile.

"Hi Skye, thank you so much for taking him in for me. I've texted Lucy so if she's back before I am then she'll know to come here to pick him up" Lee explained as he handed over the baby and the diaper bag

"It's no problem Lee. I love seeing my favourite little man" she said, smiling at the little boy as he gurgled happily before looking up at Tim sympathetically "and I hope your girlfriend gets better soon"

Tim thanked her, and with some quick goodbyes the two of them headed out to the car. Lee bit his tongue best he could before he made any more remarks on the state his best friend was in, this really was the worst he'd ever seen Tim worry over anything in his life, and the man was a huge worrier. The car pulled up outside the hospital and Tim almost looked like he was going to be sick.

"Listen, mate. She's gonna be okay" Lee tried to comfort him in some way "I mean c'mon this is Daisy we're talking about. She's ended up in A&E so many times I think she must have enough loyalty stamps for a free broken bone by now" 

"Was that supposed to be comforting?" Tim questioned him rather angrily, but he took a breath and sighed "I'm sorry I didnt mean to snap at you. I'm just... worried about her. I know it's not the first time she's been in here but it is the first that they've had to ring me to come in. Usually if I'm not with her she'll just ring me herself once they've stitched her up. What if she's really badly hurt this time?"

"Look, all I know is you're not any good to her sat out here worrying. She needs you calm and in there so that you can see her and look after her" Lee told him, going to get out of the car he waited for Tim who followed after a moment. They both then walked into the A&E department and Tim headed straight up to the desk with some newfound determination.

"Hello there my name is Timothy Adams, I got a call about my girlfriend Daisy who was in a car crash" He told the reception lady who ran it though the system.  
"Yes I have record of her here, she's currently in surgery but I can get a doctor to come meet you and explain everything"

Tim nodded and went back to Lee, looking somehow even more nervous than before.  
"They've taken her into surgery, it must be bad for them to do that! Oh god what am I going to do!" Tim panicked, starting to pace again across the shiny floor of the waiting room lobby 

"Don't worry that doesn't automatically mean that something bad's happened. Maybe they just couldn't find her brain and needed a closer look" Lee joked but quickly fell silent when Tim glared at him. He took a seat as Tim continued to pace across the floor whilst they waited for the doctor to arrive, Tim sighed in relief when the man finally approached them. 

"Good to meet you, I'm Tim" he introduced himself to the man "I'm Daisy's boyfriend, how is she? What's the surgery for?"

"She was in quite a state when she was brought in I'm afraid, we had to rush her in for a craniectomy" the doctor explained

"Oh god they've stolen what little brain she had left" Lee mumbled under his breath, thankfully neither of them heard

"We need to relieve pressure on her skull, that's why the surgery was so urgent. If not done quick enough she could be left with permeant damage. As it stands she'll be facing a lengthy recovery but for right now the prognosis seems favourable"

Tim let out a sigh of relief at that, though he was still worrying about her of course and now had all sorts filling his mind about how he might need to adapt their place for her during her recovery and that he needed to ring his work to get time off in order to care for her. He thanked the doctor who gave him a small smile.

"I'll let you know when there's an update and soon as you can see her" he said, turning to walk away before heading back "There is one more thing you might be able to help us with, Mr West. Daisy was travelling with a passenger who we've as yet been unable to identify. By the time we got there Daisy herself was unconscious and the other woman with her was unable to speak, likely down to shock. We've got her sat on the ward though she luckily escaped with just a sprained wrist and some cuts and bruises"

"Could you describe this woman?" Lee asked, standing up and walking over to where they were talking. There was a sudden awful feeling in his gut and he didn't like where this was heading.

"We think early thirties, shoulder length blonde hair, green eyes, wearing a wedding ring and she was trying to ask us about someone called Charlie" the doctor said and watched as the colour drained from Lee's face "Sir, are you okay?"

"Lucy" he said horrified, Tim's face quickly taking on the same expression 

"Do you know her, sir?" The doctor questioned "Charlie? Is that your name?"

"No that's my sons name. Lucy is my wife" Lee explained hastily "I have to see her, you have to take me there"


	2. Chapter 2

_"No that's my sons name. Lucy is my wife" Lee explained hastily "I have to see her, you have to take me there"_

The doctor called for a nurse to stay with Tim who was now panicking even more, after all she was his sister though he knew that Lee was better being with her now and he needed to wait for Daisy. Lee promised to text him an update once he was with Lucy and then soon as the nurse arrived, the doctor whisked Lee back to the ward where Lucy had been on.

"I... I need... Lucy..." Lee panted as he ran up to the nurses station desk, trying to catch his breath from having practically run down the corridor. The nurse looked confused for a moment until the doctor caught up with them and explained.

"Our Jane Doe in room five, we believe her name is Lucy. This is her husband"  
The doctor showed Lee down to the room. He opened the curtain and sure enough there was Lucy sat on the bed, getting a particularly nasty looking cut on her face seen to by a nurse. Lee almost burst into tears at the sight of her sitting there, shouting back a quick thank you to the doctor before rushing up to her and taking her hands gently.

"Hi love" he greeted her softly, gently reaching out to tuck some hair behind her ear once the nurse had finished dressing the wound. Lucy looked up at him and he could tell that she had been terrified.

"Hey it's okay, I'm here now. You're safe here with me I promise" Lee said as he gently and with permission from the nurse sat down and placed her onto his lap, cradling his wife tenderly against his chest whilst trying not to aggravate her wounds

"I was so scared" she whispered as she lent her head against him "All I could think about was you, and Charlie, but my mouth wouldn't speak"

"You're okay now I promise" Lee gently stroked her hair in what he hoped was a soothing manner, comforting people had never been his strong point but his wife meant the world to him. He looked up to the nurse who was just packing things away and she smiled at them. She looked like there was something else that needed doing and Lee silently asked if she would need him to move. She shook her head.  
"You can stay right there, I just need to ask her some questions to check that the shock is wearing off and that there's been no damage or memory loss" the nurse explained. Lee gently encouraged Lucy to look up, reassuring her that they didn't have to move but that she should listen to what the nurse said.

"Hi darling, I just need you to answer a few questions for me is that okay?" The nurse asked and continued once Lucy nodded.  
"What's your name sweetheart?"  
"Lucy"  
"What year were you born Lucy?"  
"1979"  
"And do you know what year it is now?"  
"2016."  
"Do you know where we are?"  
"Hospital..."  
"Can you remember what happened?"  
"Daisy offered to pick me up from work, I could've gotten back myself but I was just feeling so tired. I'd been up a lot of the night with Charlie so she was just being a good friend. We chatted a bit and then there was just... a bright light. I closed my eyes to try and block it out but then when I opened them again there was just blood spreading out everywhere..."

Lee felt himself inhale sharply, it was hard to hear the full details of what happened. The nurse gave him a sympathetic pat on his arm and then turned her attention back to Lucy.

"Well done you've been amazing there, I'm sure your husband will take good care of you when you get home" she smiled gently before turning back to Lee "You should be able to take her home very soon, we're just waiting on some test results and we'll send her home with some pain meds & extra bandages for her wrist"

She let them have a moment together and Lee gently pulled Lucy in closer, stroking the top of her head and kissing her cheek.  
"I'm surprised they managed to get in touch with you, I couldn't even tell them my name" Lucy said as she tried to calm down from the day's tumultuous events.

"They didn't actually, I'm only here cos they called Tim to tell him that Daisy had been in a crash and he came to ask for a lift" Lee explained to her, instantly worried when her face suddenly dropped.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain? Do you need the nurse to come back?" Lee asked, desperately searching for some sort of call button to get a nurse when Lucy caught his hand and shook her head.

"No... not for me, I'm fine. It's Daisy I'm worried about. Is she okay?" She asked him and Lee gently tried to explain  
"Daisy is erm... she's in surgery right now. Brain surgery" he admitted, Lucy's gasp tearing straight through his heart "They say she's gonna be okay. It'll take time and Lord knows what she's gonna be like for a while but I think they're cutting her brain out?"

Lee was genuinely baffled by the term, but he had half hoped that the joking might brighten Lucy up a little. However all he got was a weak slap on the arm.  
"She's our friend Lee and she's badly hurt, don't be rude" Lucy admonished him

"Sorry love" he replied. Humour was just his coping mechanism in times like this and Lucy knew that so she didn't take it to heart or tell him off too badly aside from the odd eye roll. She carefully went to lean against his chest again as he spoke  
"Truth is I'm worried about her too. But Tim's here and waiting for her, he'll be with her soon as she's out of surgery"


End file.
